Audiobook: Rainbow Black

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by Maggie Thrash
Read by Hope Newhouse
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, frank talk of sex, and descriptions of a murder scene. It’s in the Mystery section of the bookstore (for a lack of a better place to put it.)

Lacey Bond had an idyllic childhood, out in the New Hampshire woods with her hippie parents who ran a daycare. But then, when she was 13, her parents were arrested on 30 counts of pedophilia, with the townspeople – and more importantly, therapists and prosecutors – accusing them of witchcraft and Satanism, and doing Unspeakable Things with the children. These children also said that Lacey was there, was forced to be a part of it, which Lacey knows she wasn’t. Except, none of the adults believe her. And then, when her older sister, Eclair, is brutally murdered in their house, Lacey is thrown into the system. She does have a friend – Dylan (I hope that’s spelled right!) – who is trans, and who is taken away to live with her abusive biological father and creepy older brothers. Lacey becomes panicked – she has endured a LOT of trauma – and ends up making a decision that puts Lacey and Dylan on the run to Canada.

Fourteen years later, this all comes back to haunt them as they are trying to move past their traumatic childhood and create a decent life for themselves.

It’s a weird book – excellently read by Newhouse – not quite horror, though there is a lot of talk of Satanic Panic and Lacey is often in situations that could be called horrific – not quite a mystery, mostly because there’s no mystery about who is doing these things. I think, in the end, it’s a condemning look at what happens to a kid who – through no fault of their own – gets caught in the system. Of the adults trying to manipulate and coerce the kids to their ends. The adults who weren’t able or just didn’t help out as much as they could. And of the adults who just don’t believe the things the kids say, if they don’t line up with the story they want or need. Also taking a hard look at the consequences when kids take their lives into their own hands. It’s harrowing and sad, though Thrash injects humor along the way.

I don’t think I liked this one in the traditional sense, but I did find it compelling – especially on audio – and it did give me a lot to think about.

Book Nut’s 20th Anniversary: Interviews!

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For a while in the late 2000s/early 2010s, after I’d been blogging for a while, I decided it’d be fun to interview the authors of some of the books I loved. Scrolling through, It’s an eclectic bunch of authors – some of which I know I initiate, and some of which I’m sure the author initiated. I remember being super nervous to reach out to Clare Vanderpool to do the interview (though now she comes into the store pretty regularly, and it’s just “Hey Clare!” It’s funny how that happens). I know I did interviews for other places, like Estella’s Revenge (I interviewed my boss before she became my boss. In fact, that was one of the things she mentioned when she interviewed me to be a bookseller.) and the Cybils.

It was something I genuinely enjoyed doing, but time and circumstances just don’t allow me to anymore. (And maybe because the nature of blogging has changed.) I do think authors are interesting people, and I enjoy talking to/spending time with them (I had a whole hashtag on Instagram – #authorsarecool – for when I got to take authors around for visits/in-store events when I was the Children’s Coordinator (it’s been a while since I used the hashtag, and you have to scroll down to find my posts).

At any rate, it’s been fun to go back and read through the interviews I did when I was a younger blogger. And it’s an experience I wouldn’t have had without the blog, so I’m grateful for that.

Witch Hat Atelier: Kitchen, Volume 1

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by Hiromi Sato
Created by Kmome Shirahama
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It’s got short stories and recipes! It’s in the Graphic Novel section with the rest of the Witch Hat Atelier manga.

The basic “plot” of this is the Atelier master, Quifey and Olruggio both love to cook, but they don’t have time during the day. So when the students are all in bed, they take to the kitchen. Sometimes alone and sometimes together, they create scrumptious meals for one another and their students.

It’s a silly book – there’s a chapter about them cooking, followed by a recipe with the magical ingredients (and footnotes in the back with our world equivalents). That’s it. It’s cute and sweet and fluffy, but not much else. It looks like there’s a bunch of these, which I guess superfans would love, but while I thought this one was charming, I have no inclination to keep reading them.

I may try out one of the recipes, though. Just to see.

Audiobook: Finding Hope

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by Nicola Baker
Read by Kristin Atherton
Listen at Libro.fm (I think it’s only in e-book and audio)
Content: There are some intense moments. It would be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore if it were a print book.

Ava is stuck at Whistledown Farm for two whole weeks while her parents make an important trip to America. She’s a city girl, and during the only visits she’s ever made to the sheep farm she’s mostly kept to the house. She’s not sure she wants to spend two whole weeks with her aunt, uncle, and cousin (especially since her cousin is less than thrlled to see her!), but she’s determined to help. Then, on the first night, she finds a lost lamb and brings it in. They all set Ava to carig for it, and that’s the first step on her journey to learning to love the farm and the work it takes to run it.

There’s some dramatic moments: Ava forgets to close the chicken barn door one night and a fox kills off half of the flock, and there’s some sheep rustling nonsense, but mostly, it’s Ava learning how to live and work on a farm.

I liked this one well enough. The cousin, Tom, was an annoying 10-year-old boy that I wanted to smack a few times, but it wasn’t terrible. The thing that made this one work for me was the narrator. Atherton was fantastic. I’m not sure the book (it’s a celebrity author, I guess) would have been great otherwise, but Atherton made the characters shine.

It’s a short, fun read, especially for those kids who love animals.

The Guncle Abroad

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by Steven Rowley
First sentence: “Patrick O’Hara removed the cloche from his room service breakfast with a flourish it not deserve; he grimaced at what lay beneath.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Guncle
Release date: May 21, 20124
Review copy pilfered off the galley shelves at work.
Content: There is some swearing (maybe f-bombs? They didn’t stand out) and some off-screen sex. It will be in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

Five years after he had his neice and nephew out to Palm Springs to mourn the death of his best friend and their mother, Patrick is doing well. His career, which had stalled, has picked up again, and he’s been in a few movies. And his brother met someone – an Italian marchesa – and is getting remarried. Which means Guncle Patrick is needed again. In the wake of breaking up with his boyfriend, Emory, Patrick takes Maisie and Grant around Europe as he tries to teach them (somewhat hypocritcally) about love.

There’s more to the book than that, or it wouldn’t be as delightful as it is, but it’s also that simple: Patrick, Maisie, and Grant need to learn that moving on, while hard, is also a part of life. And loving more people doesn’t erase the ones they loved that have passed on.

Much like Guncle, it’s not a hilarous book, though it certainly exudes charm. I adored that they stopped in Paris, Salzburg, and Vienna on their way to Lake Como, and the way they interacted then. While I do have an issue with Patrick thinking he’s “old” at age 50 (really? Not. Old.), I didn’t mind his melancholy griping (I might feel old, too, if my partner was 20 years younger than me). This is an incredibly character-driven book, and the characters are absolutely people you want to spend time with.

Highly recommended.

Audio Book: All Boys Aren’t Blue

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by George M. Johnson
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs. There is also a graphic depiction of sexual assault and some on-page sex. It’s in the Teen Issues section of the bookstore.

In the wake of Nex Benedict’s death, and at the end of Black History month, I decided it was time to listen to this one, which I’ve had on my TBR pile since it came out in 2020. Nominally, Johnson’s memoir of a childhood growing up in a loving Black family while questioning his sexuality and gender, All Boys Aren’t Blue tackles both the feeling of being on the outside because one can’t conform to traditional ideas of what gender is, and feeling loved and included by one’s family. Johnson frames much of his childhood through the lens of trauma – from being beat up when he was 5 by neighborhood bullies to his sexual assault by a cousin – but also reinforces the idea that his family loved and accepted him (mostly) unconditionally.

I think this is an important book, and one that is most definitnely needed. I believe that Johnson’s voice is one that should be heard and respected. Was it a good book, though? Maybe? He was, however, not a good narrator. He was earnest, but often stiff and inelegant in his delivery. I think I would have liked this one a lot better had I read it rather than listening to it. That said, I’m glad it’s out there, for kids to find and hopefully help them navigate the waters of growing up.

Monthly Round-Up: February, 2024

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February went so fast, that the end of it completely snuck up on me. And there’s even one more day this year!

My favorite was the last one I read:

Get the Picture

It’s just so engaging, and a lot of fun to listen to!

Graphic Novel:

Lunar New Year, Love Story
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Amulet: The Stonekeeper (reread)

YA:

Chaos Theory (audio book)

Middle Grade:

Tagging Freedom

Adult Fiction:

The Rule Book
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
The Husbands

What was your favorite book this month?

Audiobook: Get the Picture

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by Bianca Bosker
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and talk of controversial art. It’s in the Art section of the bookstore.

Journalist Bianca Bosker wanted to understand art, how to look at it, and the creation of it. And so, because she’s that sort of journalist, she decides to immerse herself in the art world. Through the book, she works for two different art galleries, is an artist assistant, and a docent at the Guggenheim. She sees the ins and outs and ups and downs of the art world, trying to figure out. 

I don’t know a whole lot about the art world. I occasionally go to art museums, and I have some art on my walls (mostly photographs, though), but I have never thought I had an eye or even “understood” art. I found this to be fascinating. The art world is wack – elite, snobbish, monied, and not at all an accommodating place for people who don’t know art – and Bosker didn’t pull any punches with her depiction of the world. She was highly entertaining in the process, both as a writer and a narrator. I was with her every step of the way as she figured out the galleries, and talked to artists, and helped create art. But the section that affected me the most was the one with the Guggenheim. It made me think about the way I interact with museums and the way I look at art. The next time I head to a museum, I will look at and experience the art differently. 

So, yes, a fun and fascinating book that I learned from. 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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by Robert Louis Stevenson
adapted and illustrated by Andrzej Klimsowski and Danusia Schejbal
I’d tell you to go support your local independent bookstore and buy it there, but I couldn’t find it there.
Content: It’s a classic story with classic pacing. It’d be in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore if we had it.

Like most people (I think), I have always known what Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was about. It’s a scientist who messes around with Science and ends up splitting into two personalities. But I’ve never actually read the novella. Since my daughter is in a production of Jekyll and Hyde that opens this week, and the #ReadICT group at the library is hosting a discussion after one of the performances, i figured what better time to read the story. (By the way, this is one of the best songs in the musical.)

I decided to read the graphic novel adaptation, because why not. liked the art style and felt it fit with the story – it was done in charcoal (I assume) and is all harsh blacks and whites. My only real problem was keeping all the characters straight; it was often confusing. 

That said, I thought the story was compelling. The way it interspersed the backstory inside the actual narrative. And I don’t think Stevenson could be more blatant about his dislike of “carnal pursuits”. It was super moralistic, and much less dramatic than I was expecting. I think it’s an interesting exploration of madness, good and evil, and the limits of science. Did I love it? No. But I am glad I read it.

BookNut’s 20th Anniversary: The Cybils

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I started blogging in 2004, and the Cybils started in 2006. I think by then, I was aware enough of the Kidlitosphere (as we called ourselves back then) that I caught the first batch of winners. I know I applied to be a judge the next year, 2007 and was turned down. (In fact, the first time I mention Cybils on my blog is this one, in October of 2007.) I remember being very determined to make the Cybils happen, so I did everything I could – I read more kidlit books and I actively commented on the blogs of the people who were involved – I desperately wanted to be a part of this community. And, in 2008, I was on my first round 1 panel for Middle Grade Fiction. 

Over the years, I’ve been on both Round one and Round two panels, I’ve read for Middle Grade Fiction, Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, YA Speculative Fiction (I think? One year?), and Graphic Novels. My name was floated to be the blog editor at some point (maybe 2012/2013?), and I happily did that for 10 years. When a spot opened up on the board, again my name was floated, and I joined that in 2015. I’ve currently come full circle, taking the position of Middle Grade Fiction chair for this past cycle, and really enjoying it. I had an amazing group of panelists and judges, and I’m proud of the books they (we; I read for Round 1) chose. 

All this to say, that even after all this time, I am passionate about the Cybils, I love participating, and I’ll keep coming back as long as they’ll have me. In fact, about 8.5 years ago, I wrote something pretty similar about why I keep coming back. 

In short, I’m incredibly grateful my blog led me to this community of people and this award. It’s one of the best parts of my year.